Even if you do not agree with many women, please respect our ideals

You have said some extremely bigoted things, making it difficult for me to respect you. I know a book that can help you to understand why you cannot speak the way you do. This book is a personal favorite of mine, entitled We Should All Be Feminists. The book was written by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, an amazingly smart writer and feminist. I think you could learn several things from her writings that would prove helpful in the White House.

First, feminism is a matter of principle. You will learn that respecting women is the right thing to do. As not just the president but a grown man, you must consider how your actions and words affect others. By calling women fat and talking about their bodies, you are shaming them, which is mean spirited and very inappropriate. This behavior is childish and far from acceptable.

Second, you do not have the respect of many women. This is mainly because it seems as though you have no respect for us, along with many other minority groups. In this book, Mrs. Adichie writes, “I want to be respected in all of my femaleness because I deserve to be.” People should respect others based on their actions, and not their ethnicity, religion, or gender. Each of the women you have disrespected deserve to be treated with higher regard.

But why should respect matter to you? One cannot be productive if your peers do not respect you. As Mrs. Adichie wrote, “She said she had felt slighted by her boss, who had ignored her comments and then praised something similar when it came from a man. . . . She didn’t want to speak up because she didn’t want to seem aggressive.” Women in the workplace are just as valuable assets as men, therefore there is absolutely no reason to treat women this way. Also, if women do not feel valued then it is much less likely they will be truly devoted to their jobs. We cannot afford for this to happen in our nation’s highest office.

I hope that you will at least take my ideas into consideration and read this book. Understanding others opinions will only help you to become a more successful president. Even if you do not agree with many women, please respect our ideals so that we may all join together to create a stronger and more inclusive country.

Acadia Pesner, Grade 6, Sidwell Friends School

(Editor’s note: The online version of this letter is expanded from the print version with the addition of four paragraphs of text, beginning with “First, feminism is a matter of principle . . .” which was cut due to space constraints.)